The flurry of Los Angeles store openings continues at Palisades Village, the latest being A.L.C., the contemporary brand founded by former stylist Andrea Lieberman in 2008. Lieberman teamed with her former assistant and current super stylist Petra Flannery to host a small dinner at The Draycott on Thursday for her close friends Liz Friedlander, Jennifer Meyer, Erin Foster plus stylists Karla Welch, Erica Cloud and Annabelle Harron. Draycott owner Marissa Hermer was also in the mix, as was actress Olivia Hamilton.
“A small gathering is more my speed,” said Lieberman, a Westside resident. “I admire all these women so much and am so thankful for their support all these years.” Flannery has similar praise for her old boss and good friend. “I’ve learned so much from her, and how she puts her brains into her business. Andrea is proof that you can do it all — family, work, friends.”

Andrea Lieberman and Erin Foster
Jason Lowrie/BFA.com

She’s certainly come a long way since she opened her first shop in New York’s SoHo, Culture & Reality. That was inspired by the two years she spent living in Africa post-Parsons, and Lieberman said she still treasures a trunk of old merchandise that her father saved from

Leonardo DiCaprio’s charity gala on September 15th in Sonoma will be a combination of glamorous guests, a gourmet (and sustainable!) menu and good works — and PEOPLE has an exclusive look at the night!

DiCaprio, who is currently filming Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his foundation. The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation is dedicated to protecting the Earth, including conservation of oceans and wildlife and fighting climate change.

The gala, held at Jackson Park in Sonoma County, will be hosted by DiCaprio and Laurene Powell Jobs, philanthropist and widow of Steve Jobs. The night will include a special performance from Chris Martin of Coldplay and an auction by Sotheby’s. The auction catalog available for bidding includes artworks by Wayne Thiebaud, Richard Prince and David Hockney, all selected by DiCaprio’s art advisor, Lisa Schiff.

The menu will include a three-course dinner and dessert. DiCaprio requested a sustainable menu, which was created by Chef Kyle Connaughton from SingleThread Farms.

The menu’s first course, “Summer in Sonoma”, consists of various vegetables with a creamy tofu sauce and seafood, all from local food suppliers. The vegetable selection includes heirloom melon and goma dare (a Japanese sesame sauce) broccolini, followed by seafood including pickled oysters and smoked scallops.

The second course features heirloom tomatoes with homemade tofu and pickled wasabi leaves, followed by the entrée course of roasted turbot with heirloom squash and Sonoma mushrooms. For dessert, guests will dine on sesame semifreddo, an Italian treat made with heavy cream and sesame seeds. The wine selection, put together by Jackson Family Wines in Sonoma, features a Sauvignon Blanc (pictured below), a Pinot Noir and a Chardonnay all from California vineyards.

The star-studded event will be attended by celebrities including Tobey Maguire, Edward Norton and Mark Ruffalo.

DiCaprio has always been outspoken about climate change. In his acceptance speech after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor in 2016 he said, “Climate change is real. It is happening right now, it is the most urgent threat facing our entire species.”

As a prelude to the fourth edition of LVMH’s Les Journées Particulières event this fall — which will give the public a chance to visit leathergoods workshops, perfume laboratories, vineyards and other production sites belonging to the French luxury conglomerate — a happy few got a glimpse into the inner workings of two of the French group’s brands on Monday night.
Antoine Arnault, wearing his hat as the new head of communication and image for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, invited select editors attending the couture shows for a glass or two of Dom Pérignon at Chaumet’s 18th-century salon, a historic monument, and then spirited guests to the Louis Vuitton flagship on Place Vendôme for a lavish dinner.
Krug was poured once everyone assembled in one of the VIP salons, a plush space where Louis Vuitton chief executive officer Michael Burke described a decade-long process to reunite two historic town houses and restore them to their former grandeur.
“That’s how we like to cherish our brands, our houses and our assets. This is why I think Antoine is so right in making it available to the public,” he said.
Guests were then ushered into a specialty atelier next door that makes custom Vuitton designs, including

On Thursday, the Oscar winner, 27, was all smiles as the pair enjoyed a romantic candlelit dinner in New York City hours after being photographed walking arm-in-arm. Before the couple’s evening was over, Lawrence and Maroney, 33, were seen sharing a kiss at their sidewalk table.

Lawrence wore a flowing white long-sleeve skirt and a pair of fitted blue jeans, which she accessorized with a pair of black mule heels, while Maroney opted for a long-sleeve blue shirt with a collar, purple pants and green Adidas sneakers.

After Lawrence and Maroney previously stepped out in the Big Apple together in early June, a source told PEOPLE “they looked very comfortable.”

“She is smiling like I have never seen her do with any of her previous boyfriends,” the source continued, adding that the pair have “great chemistry” and were “holding hands and laughing” while spending time together. The insider also added that the couple had been together since early May.

Maroney works in the New York art scene and reps clients like Lena Dunham‘s artist father Carroll. He is reportedly a director at Gladstone 64, the Gladstone Gallery’s Upper East Side location in the famed Edward Durell Stone House. The gallery is home to a number of prominent artists, and has featured work by the critically renowned father of the Girls star.

Prior to her relationship with Maroney, Lawrence dated mother! director Darren Aronofsky. Lawrence and the filmmaker dated for just over a year after first getting together in September 2016 once filming on the thriller had ended.

“I’m friends with all my exes, actually,” Lawrence said in February, during an interview on WTF with Marc Maron. “For the most part, yeah, I have a theory: I think it’s because I’m blunt. I don’t think that you can have any sort of bad relationship with anybody if you’re just blunt.”

CALLING STELLA: Having chosen a Givenchy Haute Couture dress by Clare Waight Keller for her walk down the aisle Meghan Markle, the new Duchess of Sussex, turned to yet another female British designer to dress her on her wedding day: Stella McCartney.

Meghan Markle (in Stella McCartney)
REX/Shutterstock

“I am so proud and honored to have been chosen by the Duchess of Sussex to make her evening gown and represent British design,” said McCartney. “It has truly been one of the most humbling moments of my career and I am so proud of all the team on this stunning sunny royal day.”
Markle changed into a sleeveless white silk crepe gown with a high collar for the black-tie dinner being hosted by Prince Charles at Frogmore House in Windsor. She paired the dress with Aquazurra satin shoes with baby blue soles.
The clean lines and silk fabric of the Stella dress echoed the minimal, unembellished design she wore for her walk down the aisle.

Meghan Markle (in Stella McCartney)
REX/Shutterstock

Earlier on Saturday, when she wed Prince Harry and became the Duchess of Sussex, Markle also donned a diamond tiara on loan from Queen Elizabeth and a veil bearing floral symbols of the Commonwealth.
McCartney was one busy designer

Stylist-turned-designer Andrea Lieberman’s A.L.C. brand is the latest tenant to join Caruso’s forthcoming Palisades Village retail center, set to open on Sept. 22.
On Tuesday, fellow tenants Elyse Walker and Jennifer Meyer hosted guests including Giada De Laurentiis, Minka Kelly, Maria Shriver, Selma Blair, Jaime King and Molly Sims for cocktails at Rick Caruso’s home, followed by a four-course dinner curated by James Beard Award-winning Chef and Palisades Village tenant Renee Erickson of General Porpoise.

Giada De Laurentiis
John Salangsang/WWD/REX/Shutterstock

“I live on the West Side of Los Angeles, so the new store feels like a really direct way to speak to my customer,” said Lieberman, who just opened a New York store in TriBeCa. “I think it’ll be my go-to spot,” she said of Palisades Village, which will also be home to Zimmermann, Cynthia Rowley and Sephora Studio, among others. Los Angeles-based tenants in attendance that night included Hannah Skvarla of The Little Market, Lisa Kraynak of Carbon38 and Leilani Bishop of Botanica Bazaar.
Walker and Meyer gathered their friends to come support the new venture. “Maria [Shriver] said she had another dinner, and I said, ‘Please, you live down the street, just come for a cocktail,’ and she did,” said Walker. “Do you

“I’ve known Molly since I was 16, she’s one of my dearest friends,” said Reese Witherspoon of her longtime makeup artist, Molly R. Stern. The actress hosted a dinner at Lucques in Los Angeles on Monday night to celebrate Stern’s collaboration with Sarah Chloe Jewelry, dubbed #LoveYourself.
“Molly spreads such a positive message,” added Witherspoon of Stern’s hashtag mantra. “She’s more about inner beauty than how you look on the outside.”
Stern’s other longtime client, Maya Rudolph, agreed. “Molly used to wax my eyebrows when I was in college and we just clicked. We met again on a project when I was working in costumes and wardrobe and when I got to a point in my career when I could pick my own makeup artist, it had to be her.”
The event was a small affair for Stern’s friends and family. She brought her mom and oldest daughter; Witherspoon brought her daughter Ava Phillippe, Meritt Elliott brought her daughter Lyric, and so on. Client Lily Collins and wedding planner Yifat Oren were also in the mix.
Stern is a woman of many talents; she had a contemporary clothing line called MRS that her celebrity clients wore regularly, she painted the flower motif used to

FRENCH CONNECTION: Roland Mouret may have made London his home, but his heart, and palate, still fly the French flag.
On Thursday, when Americans were tucking into their Thanksgiving turkeys, Mouret hosted a dinner prepared by the two-star Michelin chef Hélène Darroze, his old friend and neighbor on Carlos Place in Mayfair to mark the launch of his first fragrance earlier this year, called Une Amourette. Darroze operates an eponymous restaurant across the street at the Connaught hotel.
There was Champagne and foie gras to start, and guests later took to the first floor of Mouret’s townhouse flagship for a three-course meal built around the notes of Une Amourette: The blue lobster starter was marinated with cardamom, pink peppercorn and bergamot, while the roast saddle of venison came with a black pepper crust flavoured with smoked juniper.
Dessert was Mouret’s childhood favorite, caramelized apple tarte tatin, which Darroze — who had set up a temporary kitchen in Mouret’s townhouse — served with a side of hay-flavored ice cream on a table laid with bowls of irises and thick white candles.
“My grandmother used to make me tarte tatin — but hers was more burnt than Hélène’s,” said Mouret, whose guests included Arizona Muse and Cat

“We like to be wherever our girl is,” said Nicky Zimmermann, cofounder and designer of the label that bears her and her sister Simone’s last name. The designer was in Los Angeles to shoot the brand’s spring ad campaign, so she took the opportunity to celebrate at a dinner hosted by her fellow Australians, editors Laura Brown, Christine Centenera and Jillian Davison. The night before, Zimmermann hosted a VIP shopping party at her store on Melrose Place.
The floral-laden dinner on the pool deck of Sunset Tower attracted actresses Samara Weaving, Miranda Otto, Anna Torv, Madeline Brewer and Carson Meyer; models Jessica Gomes and Nicole Trunfio; stylists Monica Rose, Sophie Lopez, Annabelle Harron, Tara Swennen Jeanann Williams, Penny Lovell, Emily Current and Meritt Elliott, and influencers Amanda Steele and Marianna Hewitt.
Zimmermann and husband Chris Olliver, the company’s chief executive officer, were off next to check out spaces for a store in San Francisco. The company has 26 stores in Australia, one in London, and six in the U.S. “We tend to open in places where our customers travels to,” she said. “It’s not so much about trying to hit a certain number, but it’s more about having fun. Most Australians know

New York designer Sally LaPointe spent the last couple of days in Los Angeles strengthening ties with the fashion community and hosting a dinner on Wednesday night at Chateau Marmont. LaPointe had a little help from entrepreneur NJ Goldston, who cohosted the affair with Mimi Cuttrell.

“It’s my first time doing something like this in L.A.,” said the designer, who currently sells in 25 retailers including Moda Operandi, Allora by Laura in Santa Barbara, Switch in Beverly Hills, and 1508 in Venice Beach.
LaPointe is often on the road for trunk shows at boutiques, but took a few days to meet with stylists and editors at Palihouse West Hollywood. “The clothes seem like a good fit in L.A., because they are about easy dressing,” she said. Although she prefers designing for fall, where she can use luxurious trims like fox fur on sweaters, she has found a following among women like Goldston who travel often.

MILAN — The MAXXI, Rome’s Museum of the Arts for the 21st Century, held its annual “Acquisition Gala Dinner” in Rome on Monday.
The fifth-annual fund-raising event, aimed at preserving and improving the museum’s permanent collection, drew more than 500 guests, including Roberta Armani; Nicola and Beatrice Bulgari; Fendi chief executive officer Pietro Beccari, who is leaving the Roman company and will join Dior at the beginning of 2018; Daniel and Florance Guerlain, and Italian entrepreneur Luca Cordero di Montezemolo.

Giovanna Melandri, president of MAXXI Foundation, underscored the importance of the synergies between public institutions and private firms. She also highlighted that in 2016, the museum’s self-financing accounted for 42 percent, while the “Acquisition Gala Dinner” aims to raise private funds.
The attendees were welcomed by an installation created by artist and photographer Michel Comte called “Light” and unveiled for the occasion. The artwork focuses on the global warming issue and features a video projection on the museum’s façade and a sculpture in the lobby.
Inside, a seated dinner — provided by Italian Michelin-starred chef Cristina Bowerman — followed a musical performance by Lebanese musicians Tarek Atoui and Mazen Kerbaj.

TROPHY HUSBAND: The prince of minimalist design, John Pawson, has a long history of setting some big challenges for the craftsmen at Swarovski, and the crystal trophy with its convex lens that he’s designed for the 2017 Fashion Awards in London is the latest in a long line.
“It’s the most simple of forms — a cylinder — but it’s only faceted on one side, which is unusual,” said Pawson from his basement kitchen in London’s Holland Park, where he and his wife Catherine hosted a dinner to mark the trophy’s reveal ahead of the awards, which will take place in partnership with Swarovski on Dec. 4 at the Royal Albert Hall.
There was a problem with the colors, too: Each crystal cylinder has a lacquer “thread” of a different color streaking through the center. Because it’s impossible to put certain materials through crystal, Pawson and Swarovski had to create an acrylic tube to hold the colors — which include gold, silver, platinum and ebony — in place.
The two have traveled this winding road before: In 2011, Pawson created a work called “Perspectives,” which involved a Swarovski-made concave crystal meniscus — the largest lens possible to manufacture. It was a feat of

“To quote my favorite Oscar Wilde line, ‘You can never be overdressed or overeducated.’ That is why Chloé and MOCA came together,” said Museum of Contemporary Art director Philippe Vergne on Tuesday, when the brand and the museum hosted their third annual dinner.
This year, the event celebrated the recent opening of the Anna Maria Maiolino exhibition at MOCA’s Grand Avenue site. Vergne gave a private tour to guests including Emma Roberts, Aimee Song, Chloe Norgaard, Courtney Trop, Estee and Danielle Haim, Kelis, Kelly Rowland and Thomas Jane. The exhibit includes Maiolino’s early prints, as well as her sculpture and photography. The pièce de résistance was a room filled with unbaked clay sculptures, including a giant wall covered in dots of clay. “Maiolino has this idea of always needing to put something on the table, and to put objects between her and the viewer,” Vergne explained.
Outside the gallery, he paused to introduce a work by another artist, a ping pong table with a lily pond in the middle. The notion of playing games and provoking conversation proved true as Roberts and her stylist Britt Elkin decided to play. The catch-22 was that no one can win the game, as the ball

“I just want to be a housewife hosting dinner parties and making beautiful perfume,” Jason Wu smiled as guests mingled over fig sangrias.
The gathering Friday night was to celebrate Wu’s fragrance launch in an intimate setting with close friends, like Stacey Jordan Cook, who hosted the dinner at her TriBeCa loft. As waiters carried around handcrafted cocktails, guests admired the colorful floral arrangements brought from Wu’s spring show earlier in the day.
“Beauty is an arena I’ve wanted to be in,” Wu said on creating the fragrance. “I’ve done a lot of beauty collaborations and I’ve never been shy about saying beauty is such a part of my DNA. When I had the opportunity to launch my fragrance with my 10th anniversary, I couldn’t say no.”
Lily Aldridge, who is the face of the fragrance, came to the dinner still wearing the nail art from Wu’s show, which was a design mimicking the fragrance bottle.
“For years we were saying we’re going to work together and finally [the fragrance] came and it was perfect timing,” she said. “I love perfume. Even if I don’t put makeup on or I don’t have time to do my hair, just putting on a fragrance makes you

Chrissy Teigen isn’t one to hold back when it comes to indulging in her favorite foods, so the model and her pal, stylist-turned-designer Andrea Lieberman, chose trendy Los Angeles eatery Jon & Vinny’s as the venue for a dinner to launch A.L.C.’s new collection for Intermix, titled “On Duty.”

Andrea Lieberman
Getty Images for INTERMIX x A.L.

The 16-piece contemporary line, for which Teigen was the muse, includes Lieberman’s takes on the classic white shirt, black trousers, track suit and other wardrobe staples, and ranges in price from $ 128 to $ 895 retail.
Lieberman started the collection with the track pant. “Since my days as a stylist, traveling around the world, I’ve wanted to find a pant that could take you from city to city, day to night. Pair it with a sneaker, pair it with a heel, it is equally cool and totally effortless,” she said. “My good friend Jen Atkin puts it best, ‘Life is hard, looking good should be easy.’”
The collection is available exclusively at the retailer’s web site and brick-and-mortar boutiques. Guests, including Teigen’s stylist Monica Rose, singer Kacy Hill and Justin Bieber’s stylist Karla Welch, all got the dress code memo, arriving in white shirts and black pants.
Teigen wore a

ALLEZ FRANCE: First Lady Melania Trump counted on Hervé Pierre to not only select her dress for Thursday night’s presidential dinner at Le Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower but he also designed it.
As the guests of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, FLOTUS and the President were a foursome dining at chef Alain Ducasse’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Earlier in the day the first ladies visited Notre-Dame Cathedral before taking a short boat ride on the Seine river. Their husbands, meanwhile, were in the Elysée presidential palace hashing out such weighty issues as Syria, Iraq, climate change and counter-terrorism.
Pierre, who also suited up the First Lady for the inaugural balls in January, said his initial idea was a long dress, but tonight’s less formal dress code called for a below-the-knee style. “She asked me to create a dress for this occasion. That was a big deal for me because I am French and I became an American citizen last summer.”
After exchanging different ideas, the pair decided on a sleeveless dress in navy blue and ivory with a red insert – a nod to the colors of both the American and French flags. “It’s not obvious. It wasn’t as though

We were chatting early last week at the New York junket for her new movie “Beatriz at Dinner.” As is standard in the world of Hollywood promotion, I’d been granted a criminally brief 10 minutes with Hayek. She waxed poetic about the melancholic film, and before we knew it, our time together ended.

I was well aware of the Trumpian undertones in “Beatriz at Dinner,” a dark comedy about a Los Angeles massage therapist slash spiritual healer exhausted by life. Beatriz is an immigrant with an abundance of love that the world often doesn’t reciprocate. When her car breaks down at the home of a wealthy client (Connie Britton), she’s invited to stay for a meal in honor of a billionaire real-estate tycoon (John Lithgow) whose luxury hotels are causing environmental mayhem in developing countries.

“Please help it,” she said, referring to the movie, as I stood up to leave. “Help us. We’re very small. It’s so strange, also ― we’re going to encounter a lot of pushback from the other side.”

I needn’t ask what she was referring to. Without using the president’s name or referencing real-life politics, “Beatriz at Dinner” indicts Trump’s values. As more guests arrive for the feast, Beatriz feels alone in a sea of money-hungry white faces, some of whom mistake her for the help. The women later mock a female reality star’s body. And in a moment evoking the Minnesota dentist who, in 2015, killed Cecil the lion, the aforementioned tycoon brags about having hunted and killed a rhinoceros for sport. He passes around a photo of the dead animal like it’s a trophy.

“My character, when the movie begins, she’s in despair about how human beings behave and in frustration about where the world is going and the fact that there’s nothing she can do about it, as hard as she has tried all her life,” Hayek said. “Some of the things we have learned to make ourselves interesting and popular socially are kind of sad. Going after another woman collectively like that and enjoying it ― it’s very sad.”

Written by Mike White and directed by Miguel Arteta, who are collaborating again after their extraordinary work on “The Good Girl” and HBO’s “Enlightened,” “Beatriz at Dinner” features a career-best performance from Hayek. In subtle ways, she telegraphs the complexity of feeling drained amid a clique that not only looks and thinks differently, but seems largely uninterested in her perspective. What starts as a comedy of manners becomes an aching drama about humanity’s segregation, and one of the finest roles of Hayek’s 29-year career.

Despite Hayek’s worries, “Beatriz at Dinner” isn’t likely to receive much Trumpian fuss ― it’s too small of a movie for any real controversy. And anyway, it’s too delicate to piss people off. But it should, at least, spark conversations about the way we treat one another and how to find hope in a world that doesn’t often prioritize equality. As a Mexican actress who has been outspoken about her distaste for the Trump phenomenon, it’s also a personal story.

“I related to this, but I think she’s not even that uncomfortable about being in a room looking different,” she said. “I think this deeper type of loneliness is being alone in a room with people that all think different than her, to the point that she can barely follow what they’re talking about. She’s like, ‘Wait, am I understanding? Is this really what they’re saying?’ And I think so many of us have experienced that.”

“Beatriz at Dinner” is now playing in limited release.

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Presented by Handmade Events, PopUp Dinner Brooklyn brought one-of-a-kind creativity out for a picnic along the water at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal in Red Hook. The flash picnic brought together 6,000 people dressed in white from head to toe to eat, drink and dance to the rhythm of New York DJs and a special performance by Run-DMC’s Darryl McDaniels. The premise: Handmade Events provides the setting, tables, chairs and entertainment, and guests provide the rest. From the Pinterest-worthy table settings and beautifully decorated cakes to the eccentric white cocktail hats and creative interpretations of monochromatic dressing, the crowd was alive and the sense of community couldn’t be missed. The pop-up was a spontaneous and beautifully unexpected evening of style.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Samantha Bee was ready to make one thing clear: She appreciated journalists trying to find the truth and has little time for those trying to obscure it. In a taped segment before the no-holds-barred comedienne launched her “Not The White House Correspondents Dinner” Saturday after at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.,… Read more »

An annual Washington tradition best known for celebrity guests and a comedy routine by the president continues on Saturday with neither.

The White House Correspondents Association dinner, at the Washington Hilton in D.C.’s Dupont Circle neighborhood, will be held without President Donald Trump and the high-profile guests typically invited by news outlets that organize the event. Instead, this year’s dinner will include guests like the high-school journalists who brought down their principal with a story on her faked credentials. (The kids will be guests of HuffPost.)

Saturday’s correspondents dinner will still feature a roast of the president, delivered by “The Daily Show” correspondent Hasan Minhaj, a Muslim comedian who has condemned Trump’s anti-Muslim actions. It’s a safe bet that there will be plenty of jabs at the president’s expense.

Still, this year’s correspondents dinner will be a diminished affair compared with past years. Much of the star power typically drawn to the dinner will instead be concentrated at an alternative event thrown by “Full Frontal” host Samantha Bee. The New Yorker and Vanity Fair have canceled the extravagant after-parties they typically hold. And Trump is holding a rally at the same time as the dinner, presumably to divert attention from the Washington event.

Jeff Mason, president of the White House Correspondents Association, said this year’s dinner would focus on its original purpose: funding scholarships for aspiring journalists and recognizing the work of reporters covering the presidency.

“We look forward to shining a spotlight at the dinner on some of the best political journalism of the past year and recognizing the promising students who represent the next generation of our profession,” Mason said in a statement.

Given Trump’s anti-media attacks, the dinner also is likely to focus on freedom of the press and the media’s watchdog role in government.

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This time last year, President Obama joked about the election, bid the Washington press adieu, and finally dropped the mic at his last White House Correspondents Dinner in office. Too bad nothing of major political significance has gone down since then and nobody will have anything to talk about this year, right?

Just kidding! American politics are utter chaos right now! That can be distressing to a lot of people on a day-to-day basis, but this weekend, there’s an opportunity for you to try to just enjoy it: The annual mutual roasting of the Washington media and the politicians they cover has rolled around once again. Here are all the details about where to watch and what you’ll see at this year’s “nerd prom” — and it should be an interesting one.

When is the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and how can I watch it?

The White House Correspondents’ Association’s annual dinner takes place this Saturday, April 29, held in the ballroom at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The event will stream live on C-SPAN beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT.

Who will be there?

The big story here is who will not be there: Donald Trump, who has made no secret of his loathing for the news media — or the “enemy of the American people,” as he likes to call it — has said he will not attend the event, which celebrates the free press and honors the First Amendment. The President isn’t the only big name who’ll be sitting this one out, either; the normally star-studded affair is expected to be much more low-key this year, and many media outlets are extending their invitations to journalists rather than celebrities. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be any stars in attendance. We do know Alyssa Milano, Chad Lowe, Matt Walsh, Elvis Costello, and Billy Bob Thornton will be there.

Why won’t Trump be there?

“I am not a hypocrite, and I haven’t been treated properly, and that’s okay, that’s fine,” he explained on Fox and Friends soon after he announced he would skip the dinner. Instead of schmoozing with the press, he’ll spend Saturday — which, in a remarkable coincidence, happens to be his 100th day in office — “holding a BIG rally in Pennsylvania,” he tweeted.

Has the President ever skipped it before?

Yes, but it’s been 36 years since the Commander-in-Chief sat one out. Trump will be the first POTUS to skip the dinner since Ronald Reagan, who missed it once, in 1981, because he was recovering from an assassination attempt — but he did call into the event to deliver remarks from the hospital. Before Reagan, Jimmy Carter did not attend in 1980 or 1978, and Richard Nixon opted out in 1974 and 1972.

This whole thing sounds super lame. What else can I watch that night instead?

Funny you should ask! Late-night maverick Samantha Bee will be hosting the first annual Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner at DAR Constitution Hall in Washington that very same night. The event will air as a special episode of Full Frontal with Samantha Bee at 10:00 p.m. ET on TBS, and stream on Twitter at 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 pm PT, with a red carpet stream beginning two hours earlier. “We’re throwing a party to toast the free press — while we still have one,” Bee says in the promo video. Raise a glass!

On Tuesday’s episode, Kaling’s character Dr. Mindy Lahiri joked that she couldn’t believe Booker showed up to her party:

“Cory Booker? I can’t believe he came. I guess anything to get out of Newark, huh?”

On Thursday, Booker tweeted at Kaling that he heard her “Mindy Project” character had dissed Newark and posted a link to a Vogue article on why it’s worth visiting. The senator made sure to keep the tweet light-hearted and was quite flirty with his use of emojis ― not to mention the fact he added “(I still ❤️ U”).

The former couple, who share 4-year-old son Luca, dined at Il Pastaio in Beverly Hills. Both dressed casually for the outing, with Duff, 29, sporting jeans and a red shirt with shoulder cut-outs. She wore her hair in a half up style.

The former professional hockey player, 36, donned jeans and a grey sweater.

Trump would be the first president in over three decades to duck out of the event, which typically features a comedy roast of the president.

It’s not a huge surprise that Trump plans to dodge the event, given his repeated attacks on the media that have included calling the press the “enemy of the people.” After his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Friday, several media outlets, including The Huffington Post, were barred from a press briefing.

The White House Correspondents Association’s event, which hosts D.C. journalists, celebrities and Beltway newsmakers, first began in 1921. The last president to skip out was Ronald Reagan in 1981. He was still rattled by an assassination attempt — but he managed to phone in his comments.

Trump has attended the dinner before, and then-President Barack Obama ribbed him in 2011 for peddling the “birther” conspiracy theory.

Who knows? If Baldwin decides to pick up the gauntlet, perhaps there would also be an open invitation for “SNL” pal Beck Bennett to stand in for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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You shouldn’t give up good food just because you are on a gluten-free diet. With the 72 recipes in the this book, you can stay off gluten and still enjoy delicious and exciting food. Going gluten-free is easy when you have a collection of easy to make recipes at hand. The Gluten Free Family Recipes is a collection of 72 recipes practically grouped into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner And Dessert categories. This is a collection of recipes you will use again and again. Inside it, you will find quite a number of your favorite meals with the proper ingredient replacements to make them safely gluten-free. You and your family can now have gluten-free meals all year round. Once you start cooking these meals, it will not be difficult for you to come up with variations that will make meal times even more enjoyable in your home!

The Zone Diet: Diet in the Zone! Including Zone Diet Food Shopping List, 7 Day Zone Diet Meals Plan with Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Zone Diet Snacks + RecipesKeep your hormones, especially insulin, In “The Zone!”Simple Dieting Made Easier, with this book!”The main aim of the Zone Diet is to eat in such a way that hormone imbalance and hence inflammation is avoided. By doing that, weight gain can be instantly stopped, and the excessive accumulated pounds can slowly be melted away. Calorie CountingCalorie BurningFood GroupsComplex and Simple FoodsThese are just a few terms that pop up whenever you open a book that deals with weight loss and healthy living. To the average Joe/Jane, this all sounds like complicated scientific jargon. Average people like you and me are not walking, talking encyclopedias. We do not have search engines inside our heads that we can look up the calories of any food within seconds. Instead, in daily life we are left confused as to what to really eat and what to avoid. Not with zone diet, though! This diet was specifically developed keeping this social problem in mind. It takes the guesswork out of meal planning. Every food that you can think of is characterized into zones so that you can just pick and eat. No real effort involved. Weight loss was never so easy! Sounds interesting?Find out more!

“Coming out is, in some ways, one of the most important political acts we do as queer people,” co-creator Joey Stern told The Huffington Post. “We say to friends and family ‘See me, see me like this.’ Learning about our history, teaching others about our history, thats how we say to each-other ‘See us, see all of us.’ It’s not just learning history, but learning it together that really solidifies that experience. You’re not alone, you’re part of vast and connected community.”

Resources like “Serving Pride” are more important than ever, in an era when its easy to lose sight of our history as LGBTQ people and our collective struggles.

Head here to check out the Kickstarter campaign and keep your eyes peeled for more from “Serving Pride: The Queer History Dinner Party Handbook.”

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Brie Larson and Rowan Blanchard were among those invited by Liz Goldwyn and David de Rothschild for dinner at Alma at The Standard, Hollywood, to celebrate the recent victory at Standing Rock and bring awareness to the fight to protect natural resources. Miles Allard, cofounder of Sacred Stone Camp, and his wife Ladonna Brave Bull, who were the first to set up peaceful protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline on the site, were the guests of honor, along with DJ Two Bears of Standing Rock.

Brie Larson, Rowan Blanchard and Liz Goldwyn.

“I curated the guest list to include people from different circles in Los Angeles who are activists with their own platforms,” Goldwyn said. “Brie is already very active with community service, and Rowan does incredible things for someone who’s just 15. She’s really motivating a new generation to make their voices heard.” Other guests included artists Doug Aitken and Rosson Crow, stylists B. Akerlund and Jessica de Ruiter, Dita Von Teese, Larson’s fiancé, musician Alex Greenwald, Alex Ashbaugh, Daniel Corrigan, Co designer Justin Kern, and singer Rainey Qualley and her sister Margaret Qualley.

Margaret and Rainey Qualley

After a powwow dance performed by Trae Little Sky and Jocy Bird, guests enjoyed a

Prepare yourself to see and be seen as you are whisked into some of Vegas’ most exclusive restaurants. This guided Vegas Strip Dinner Tour is a an evening of glamour and fun that is a show in and of itself. Don’t worry about where to go or what to eat, your guides will use their insider knowledge to give you a night on the town you won’t soon forget.On this 3-hour tour, you will walk past iconic fountains and glitzy venues on your way to 5 of Vegas’ most talked about and exclusive restaurants. Don’t worry about the wait, your table will be ready for you when you arrive. At each stop, you’ll savor appetizers, entrees, or desserts. You will finish the tour having consumed a full meal consisting of 15+ signature dishes prepared by award-winning chefs. Most guests will end this adventure comfortably full!If you want to spice up your evening a bit more, an optional alcoholic beverage add-on is available at the time of purchase which includes a pre-selected signature drink at various stops. This is Vegas, after all!This glamorous Vegas Strip Dinner Tour is the perfect way to spend a night on the town. Whether this is your first trip to Vegas or you are a local, dying to get reservations at Vegas’ most exclusive hot-spots, this is the tour for you!
List Price: $ 199.00Price: $ 199.00

At the risk of stating the obvious — and being indelicate in doing so — the12th annual CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund dinner was all about the money. The event, held Monday night at Spring Studios in New York, was the culmination of the four-month fashion boot camp during which the 10 finalists all but pledge their first born to Vogue and the CFDA in exchange for the chance at $ 400,000 and a year of mentorship ($ 150,000 for the runners-up).
But, surprise! When Amanda Seyfried took to the stage with Riccardo Tisci, who was the evening’s inspirational designer of the year, to unveil the winner, she revealed a change of plans: There would be three winners instead of one, and each would receive $ 300,000 and a year of mentorship. No runners-up this year, just winners and “finalists.” In the former camp was shoe designer Aurora James of Brother Vellies; Rio Uribe of Gypsy Sport, and Jonathan Simkhai. In the latter — Baja East, Baldwin, Cadet, CG, Chromat, David Hart and Thaddeus O’Neil.
The decision to up the money and the number of winners was reached that morning, according to Steven Kolb, president and chief executive officer of the CFDA. “What happens in this process

FANTASY DINNER: Document magazine and stylist Olivier Rizzo hosted a dinner in Paris on Saturday night to celebrate the New York-based title’s fall issue.
There was an intimate vibe in the salon of Lapérouse, the art-stuffed, 18th-century restaurant on the Left Bank where the event took place.
Miuccia Prada, Raf Simons, Kris Van Assche and Simon Porte Jacquemus were among the attendees.
“It’s like a dream. It’s so perfect,” said Nick Vogelson, who cofounded Document with James Valeri, speaking of the guest list. “We chose this venue because Miuccia presented her first Miu Miu collection here.”
Jacquemus had an addition to his own fantasy dinner invitee lineup.
“I would add my cousin. It would be fun to have a child joining the table,” the designer said, referring to seven-year-old Jean, who made a sensation opening Jacquemus’ spring show. “Everything is seen differently through the eyes of a child.”
Has the experience been life-changing for Jean?
“He’s just happy he’s skipping school,” Jacquemus said with a laugh, agreeing people will keep an eye out for what’s up next for Jean and Hudson Kroenig, Karl Lagerfeld’s godson, today’s It kids of the fashion world.
Meanwhile, guests indulged on foie gras, beef and caramel soufflé – the restaurant’s signature dessert. And after

LONDON – “I wanted everything to be leopard, even the guests, which is why we had a strict ‘leopard’ dress code,” said Charlotte Olympia designer Charlotte Dellal at the dinner she hosted to preview her spring-summer 2016 collection. However, not everyone observed the mandate: Dellal’s brother, Alexander, was shamefully leopard-free. But the shoe designer soon solved that: “I cut a corner from a table cloth to make him a pocket square.”
“It’s like being in the most glamorous safari tent in the world,” summed up furniture and interior designer Francis Sultana. The walls and ceiling of the private room at Daphne’s restaurant in South Kensington had been festooned with custom-printed fabric in the Charlotte Olympia signature leopard spots, which matched the tablecloths and seat cushions.
After dinner, bingo cards printed with shoes and bags from the new collection were handed out with gold bingo markers, and presenter George Lamb ran a semi-legit bingo game, with three big toy leopards as the prizes. Derek Blasberg won the first round of the game but donated his trophy to Arizona Muse.
“That’s probably the nicest thing Derek’s ever done,” said the London-based model. “I’m going to pop it in my son’s bedroom tonight so he wakes

Aaron Evans isn’t looking for mystery or romance when he moves to a quiet Seattle neighborhood and attends services at a local church. He isn’t even looking for religion. He is searching for an environment that will further help his children ease the pain of their mother’s sudden death two years ago. When Aaron’s eight-year-old son draws a picture, in church, of Elvis Presley’s ascension to heaven on a toilet seat, it attracts the attention of two very different women. Mildred Vinster, a cantankerous octogenarian, is offended. Holly Lawrence, Aaron’s new neighbor is amused. Mildred’s murder, a few hours later, leaves Holly heir to an old Bible. A hollowed out section of the Bible contains a bag of synthetic diamonds. The Bible also leaves clues to the location of a wealth of real gems. As Holly’s relationship with Aaron turns to love, the mystery surrounding the diamonds deepens. The answer to where the diamonds came from and why Holly received them begins in prewar Nazi Germany and leads from the drug trade in Canada to the casinos of Las Vegas where finding the real diamonds turns into a game of life or death with the odds stacked against them.

If you are looking for romantic ideas to use for any occasion this is the book for you. Denise Brienne gives you 250 romantic ideas to use anytime of the year. Jam packed with only the best and most unique ideas this audiobook has it all. Need an idea for something romantic to do on the cheap? It’s in here. Want to surprise your partner with something special just for them? Gotcha covered. Need that something extra for a birthday or anniversary? No Problem. Like nothing else on Amazon or the Internet, this Volume 1 is enough to keep you going all year long. Never run out of something romantic to do.

Also, be sure to check out 250 Romantic Ideas: Volume 2 for double the ideas. Visit her site and join her mailing list to be notified of new book releases. http://www.DeniseBrienne.com

Earth’s Best Organic Country Dinner, 2nd Harvest Squash Turkey comes in a 4 ounce jar. When your little one is ready for new tastes and textures, Earth’s Best Organic Second Foods are the perfect choice. With unique varieties and flavor combinations, your baby will experience a new world of flavors and blends. Earth’s Best is the first and only full line of organic baby food. We strive to provide better for baby products to ensure that babies can grow up healthy and strong, eating pure, wholesome foods. And throughout the years we’ve grown too. We now offer organic formulas, snacks, meals and even baby body products for your little one. By expanding the trusted Earth’s Best brand beyond baby foods we hope all children will grow up with the freshest and purest products possible in a clean and safe world.
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Dressed in a sequined Christian Dior mini dress, Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman took the stage at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, CA to present Israeli author Amos Oz with the UCLA Israel Studies Award.

Oz is the author of over 41 books, which have been translated into 42 languages. His International bestselling memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness has been adapted by Portman who will play the role of Oz’s mother Fania. Portman will also be making her directorial debut in this screenplay. The film is slated to premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

“As both an Israeli and an American, I understand well the importance that Israel is,” said Portman. “His beautiful and moving memoir, A Tale of Love and Darkness, which I am so proud to bring to the screen, weaves his own life with a history of a young state of Israel. The two are linked. Thank you Amos for packing your suitcases for this long Jewish travel, putting words to our longings and for never losing to cynicism and your insistence on peace, even when it is not as popular as it should be.”

The award presented to Oz is a sculpture created by Soraya Nazarian, an internationally renowned artist and sculptor, and is entitled Strong Roots, Grounded. The tree’s strong roots portray identity, origin and strength to weather difficulty and the unknown.

Following the awards ceremony, an elegant dinner was held on the patio catered by Lucques.

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“You are relevant. You are relevant.” It’s something anyone sitting on the outside of power would say to themselves to get psyched up. But coming from Timothy Simons, who plays the resident D.C parasite Jonah Ryan on “Veep,” it’s hilariously bogus. In a video from Vanity Fair and Funny or Die, Simons prepares himself for Nerd Prom (aka the White House Correspondents’ Dinner).

He fakes remembering conversations with various white congressmen, plans on asking Joe Biden for weed and perfects a laugh. “Fuck me, I’m dead inside,” he says. “Same,” D.C. would agree.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

healthfinder.gov Daily News
SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN!-http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.-American Consultants Rx -Pharmacy Discount Network News-
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healthfinder.gov Daily News
SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN!-http://www.acrx.org -As millions of Americans strive to deal with the economic downturn,loss of jobs,foreclosures,high cost of gas,and the rising cost of prescription drug cost. Charles Myrick ,the President of American Consultants Rx, announced the re-release of the American Consultants Rx community service project which consist of millions of free discount prescription cards being donated to thousands of not for profits,hospitals,schools,churches,etc. in an effort to assist the uninsured,under insured,and seniors deal with the high cost of prescription drugs.-American Consultants Rx -Pharmacy Discount Network News-
HEALTH SPECIALS!!-

Used – Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domai

A quick, easy, family-friendly cookbook for the millions of Zone households around the world. Millions of people worldwide have discovered the incredible weight-loss and health benefits of living in the Zone. For almost 10 years, Lynn and Barry Sears have maintained a completely Zone-friendly kitchen. With two daughters – one a finicky first-grader and one a vegetarian teenager – Lynn has had to use all of her creative and culinary skills to keep her family healthy and happy." Zone Meals in Seconds" combines Lynn’s hard-won wisdom and valuable experience with Barry’s Zone expertise and medical knowledge in the first-ever family-friendly Zone book. From quick and easy family dinner recipes and snack tips, to advice on packing school lunches and surviving backyard barbecues, this book is a must-have for people who want to experience the incredible benefits of the Zone but need help answering the all-important question, ‘What do I eat?’Written with the help of an experienced chef and recipe developer, "Zone Meals in Seconds" offers more than 200 fast and family-tested recipes for Zone-approved breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.
List Price:Price:

$ 382 for a 2-Night Stay on Sunday-Wednesday with a 3-Course Dinner on both nights, Hot Breakfast on both days, Two $ 65 Spa Credits & one Kawartha Dairy Ice Creak per Person.

Taxes of 13% and resort gratuities of 10% not included.

Reservations required and are subject to availability, please call 1-800-263-6600 for bookings. 48 hour cancellation policy or voucher is voided. You may book one hour after purchase.

Bonus Weekend: July 18-19 & August 8-9 at an additional $ 100 per night and is payable directly to the resort (subject to availability.

All accommodations are based on double occupancy in a private cottage. May upgrade to a chalet for an additional $ 30 per night if available and is payable directly to the resort.

Limit 1 spa voucher per stay per person. Spa reservations must be made in advance to ensure availability by calling 705-385-8074. Gratuities not included and is payable directly to the spa at the customer’s discretion. Spa credit valid towards services only, is non-transferable and not valid towards RMT.

Blackout Dates: Aug. 3, 2014.

Valid to book and travel until Sept. 25, 2014.

Not valid for existing reservations.

Refund policy: within 14 days of purchase only. No refund if room has already been booked with hotel.

Hotel Info:

Room Amenities:

Cottages have a bed sitting room, one queen size bed and full bathroom.
Features a propane fireplace or a wood burning stove, radio, CD player, television with DVD player, complimentary Wi-Fi, and a kitchenette with microwave, refrigerator and coffeemaker.

Hotel Info

An additional adult may stay in the room for $ 72 extra plus tax per night.
Children under 12 may stay for $ 15 extra plus tax, with breakfast included (children’s dinner menu available for $ 10.95).
Pet-friendly rooms are available upon request.

Room Amenities

Features a Queen bed, fridge, microwave, seating area with cable TV, and free Wi-Fi.

Includes a 2-night stay for 2 people, with dinner for 2 at Pizzaio, 2-for-1 bath access at Spa des Neiges by the St-Laurence River, 15% off the new on-site restaurant La Baguette et Cie, free one-day bicycle rental for 2 (weather permitting), artisanal beer tasting at La Souche, cider tasting at Cidrerie Bilodeau, free parking, and a late checkout until 1pm (based on availability).

Valid 7 days a week.

Reservations must be made by email at info@aubergeamerik.com, and are subject to availability. You may contact to book one hour after making your purchase.

Valid to book and travel until Aug. 17, 2014.

Price is based on double occupancy. Up to 2 additional guests may be added based on room availability and at an additional cost of $ 25 per person, per night, for lodging only.

All inclusions in package must be used during your stay.

Dinner at Pizzaio includes choice of appetizer, main course, dessert, and coffee. Alcohol, taxes or gratuities are not included. The restaurant is closed on Mondays. Reservations strongly recommended in advance.

Auberge Amerik is not responsible for the reservation or schedule of the restaurants and spa.

Refund policy: within 14 days of purchase only. No refund if you have already booked your room with hotel.

Unlimited personal buys, and unlimited as gifts.

Does not include 5% GST, 9.975% PST and 3% city lodging tax, which are payable directly to the hotel.

TeamBuy TICO # 50019980.

Description:

$ 295 for a 2-Night Romantic Getaway in Quebec City with Dinner for 2, Bike Rental, Spa Discount and More at Auberge Amerik ($ 500 Value)

Hotel Info

Check-in at 12pm, check-out at 1pm (based on availability).
Free parking is included.
Pets not allowed.

Room Amenities

Choose to stay in one of 8 charming rooms (based on availability) each with a Double or Queen bed and free Wi-Fi.

Dining Onsite

Dinner for 2 is included at La Pizzaio, which is ranked #9 out of 1,124 Quebec City restaurants on TripAdvisor.com.
Also receive 15% off the brand-new onsite restaurant La Baguette et Cie.

Tune in for an all-new episode of Deion’s Family Playbook Saturday at 10/9c.
Subscribe to OWN: http://bit.ly/18Lz0rV

The family takes a trip to a local restaurant for dinner—a rare outing for the Sanders bunch. Deion puts up a five dollar bill as a prize for whomever wins a round of “Daddy Says.” Who will the big winner be?

Because many of us haven’t trusted the Pulitzer Prize since 1962 when Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was nixed by the powers there, whatever lands the award from year to year can receive an I’ll-be-the-judge-of-that critical response.

I suppose that’s my way of saying I wasn’t bowled over by Donald Margulies’s Dinner With Friends win in 2000. Come to think of it, the decision could have been the Pulitzer deciders’ way of accepting their judges’ choice that go-round as compensation for the institute’s not honoring The Model Apartment, the playwright’s superb 1998 play, stunningly revived last year by Primary Stages.

(There’s a prominent precedent: Albee’s 1967 win for A Delicate Balance was viewed, at least in part, as a make-up nod for the 1962 gaffe.)

But don’t get me wrong. While I’m not convinced Dinner With Friends is a duh!-but-of-course prizewinner, I’m glad to say it’s a piece of very fine writing. The evidence is the Roundabout’s flawless revival at the Laura Pels, directed by Pam McKinnon (who has the recent Who’s Afraid….? revival to her credit), and acted by Jeremy Shamos, Marin Hinkle, Darren Pettie and Heather Burns.

Getting back to the Pulitzer voters, maybe they favored Margulies for his depiction of two contemporary middle-class marriages. Perhaps they reasoned the drama had been, and would be, seen by many middle-class marrieds who’d find themselves so well observed in it.

Certainly, Margulies–on record as cribbing from his own marriage to a general practitioner–takes his characters’ temperature with compelling accuracy. In the first of his two acts, the ostensibly blissful Gabe (Shamos) and Karen (Hinkle) are hosting good pal Beth (Burns) who confides in their well-appointed Connecticut kitchen (Allen Moyer’s design) that husband Tom (Pettie) is leaving her for another woman. After returning home to confront the admittedly philandering Tom, Beth so agitates him when she admits having told Karen and Gabe that he races over to give them his side of the break-up.

Margulies begins his second act flashing back to the summer some 12 years earlier when, at their Martha’s Vineyard summer retreat (Moyer keeping up the good work), Gabe and Karen rather awkwardly reintroduce Beth and Tom, who’d disliked each other since their hosts’ wedding. That four-way exchange–infused with comic touches that always come easily to Margulies–is followed by a scene in which Karen and Beth discuss the unfolding events, then a scene in which Gabe and Tom do the same and, finally, a one-on-one bedroom wrangle between Gabe and Karen.

Am I going back on my earlier Pulitzer-resistant stance by saying it would be hard to question the wisdom with which Margulies writes about the somehow sturdy Gabe-Karen marriage and the foundering Tom-Beth alliance, which, when ended, allows them to enter into sound second marriages? Not only do I appreciate his views there, but I also admire (maybe even more so) Margulies’s nuanced understanding the dynamics of friendships. He’s put “Dinner” is his title, and he plays with it by devoting two scenes to Karen and Gabe preparing food with great enthusiasm, as well as having the pair offer Tom something to munch on when he barges in.

But Margulies has also inserted “Friends” in his title, and in both the lengthy Karen-Beth and Gabe-Tom confrontations, he explores the subtle things between friends that, if not confronted, can become big things. His perceptions about the unconscious slights friends can commit, often on an consistent basis, are beautifully jarring. What Beth observes about Karen and then Tom observes about Gabe and that then propels Karen and Tom into their own marital considerations is so profound that, yes, I don’t begrudge that Pulitzer.

There’ll be no speculating here on how actors and directors approach a Pulitzer play. It’s highly unlikely that director MacKinnon thought differently about how she’d treat Dinner With Friends, which did win, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which didn’t. The very thought is laughable. And notice that both works dwell on two unions in shaky shape.

Actors undoubtedly think about how best to play the role they’ve won. Shamos, Hinkle, Pettie and Burns–as guided by MacKinnon–know exactly what to do. Each of them has acquired the kind of resumé that marks them as reliable. Theirs is a reliability that stems from fitting the parts they play as if the parts were written about and for them.

So, renewed congratulations to Margulies on his Pulitzer. More than that, congratulations, prize or no prize, on presenting so believably the infinite complexities of marriages and friendships. These are the foundations on which are built so many of our daily lives.

N. B.: The list of Oscar Wilde’s plays usually includes only five–Lady Windermere’s Fan, Salomé, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest. Theatergoers familiar with them may be surprised to learn that’s not the complete list. In 1883, his early play-Vera, or The Nihilists, about the eponymous woman’s throwing her lot in with revolutionaries (one of whom is a royal)–had its first production in New York City.

It’s not a very good play. Actually, it’s quite bad, which explains its being little discussed in polite society. It can be seen now, though. True Wilde completists can look at it–and may want to–in the Femme Fatale Theater production at HERE, the first on these shores in 131 years. By their own admission, director-designers Stephen Gribbin and Robert Ribar have tinkered with it but haven’t apparently improved the hard-boiled melodramatics. Nor does the all-male cast help.

Among the very few hoped-for epigrammatic remarks for which Wilde is still revered are “Nothing is impossible in prison but reform,” “Indifference is the revenge life takes on mediocrities” and “Experience is merely the name men give their mistakes.”